If you’re planning a trip to Bali then you can’t miss the chance to go white water rafting! What better way to spend a morning than bumping your way down a river and falling off the edges, right!?
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Telaga Waja: White Water Rafting with Lunch
This trip has it all – a gorgeous drive through the Balinese countryside, plenty of time on the river and a delicious Indonesian buffet lunch to refuel with! It’s suitable for any age, safety equipment is provided and you’ll be guided along the water by an experienced rafter so you can enjoy white water rafting down the Telaga Waja river even if you’ve never done it before!
Experience White Water Rafting In Bali!
A typical run down the Telaga Waja river will take you around 3 hours. There are waterfalls to be pushed into, cliffs to jump off and local children to avoid whilst they splash around having their bath.
As a two, we shared our boat with one solo traveller and of course, the guide, who was ridiculously strong – whenever you get stuck on a rock you’ll just be dragged over it by a guide using their oar!
Most of the time you are floating without doing any work, but if there is a strong current suddenly, you’ll have to get stuck in and paddle your way around.
Read More: The Ultimate Guide To Backpacking In Bali
White water rafting is such a fun experience and in Bali, you’ll have moments where you feel the adrenaline pumping but you won’t fall out of the boat here! Book a trip and enjoy floating down the Telaga Waja and taking in the gorgeous natural river!
Where to Go White Water Rafting in Bali
After a lot of research, we found that Ubud is a great place to go for white water rafting. The Telaga Waja River is surrounded by gorgeous scenery and is the perfect amount of bumpiness and frothiness!
The Ayung River is also popular too but we read that there were hundreds of stairs to climb before lunch so we sacked it off. There are different companies sending people down different parts of the river so make sure you research first!
It took around an hour and a half to drive from Ubud centre to the river. We had a quick stop off to take some pictures of the beautiful rice terraces! Our last experience with rice terraces was a massive fail so it was good to get some photos!
Who to Book With
We booked with Telaga Waja Bali Rafting who were really great. Despite a slight miscommunication with our booking, they managed to turn the day around and we really enjoyed it.
Included in the price was pickup and drop off at our hotel, helmets, life jackets, towels and a buffet lunch.
Lots of other companies offer a similar deal so have a look on Viator and always shop around for the best deals.
Read More: The Perfect 7 Day Bali Itinerary
What to Take Water Rafting
Water shoes
I wore my super sexy water shoes and got ridiculed by Kev who wore his walking boots – guess who was laughing by the end!? If you don’t have walking shoes, even sandals or flip flops will do. Those walking boots are still a bit damp a month later …
Action camera with head mount and STRAP!
Our Top Pick
If you’re in the market for an action camera then our current recommendation is the GoPro Hero 9. Yes, the Hero 10 is currently the flagship but it doesn’t have that much more than the Hero 9 and costs a lot more. The front-facing screen is a godsend for selfies and video and you get the famous GoPro durability and stabilisation that they are now renowned for. Check out current deals here.
Obviously don’t just go and buy one for this day trip only, but we got some amazing footage with our chest strap. Some of the helmets provided also had the attachment on so you could stick your GoPro on but they were snapped up really quickly.
We also saw one guy’s heart literally break as he was holding onto his camera with just a grip and his raft got caught on a particularly big rock. It made everyone in the bolt jolt forward and he dropped the camera in the river.
I THINK a guide went back for it for him which was lucky but the look of devastation in his eyes when he dropped it made us never want to hold ours without it being attached to our body again!
Read More: Everything You Need To Take On Your Backpacking Trip
A change of clothes
Obvious, really, but I didn’t actually realise we would get SO wet. We also went for a swim halfway down so there wasn’t much choice there. Bring dry shoes too! Check with your company but you’ll more than likely be provided with towels.
Money
A lot of companies choose to take your payment on the day rather than in advance. Don’t forget to bring money for drinks too. Most companies will also offer you a photo package – we paid IDR300,000/£18/$22 for 40 photos but a lot of them weren’t that great.
The only one we really loved was the action shot of us falling down the 4 metre drop!
Food
Most companies we researched provided everyone with a buffet lunch (drinks not included). There are also lots of locals on your way down the river who have set up little bases selling beer, water and small snacks – I can’t imagine wanting a beer in your belly whilst being flung around whilst white water rafting though!?
Packing List Essentials
Planning a trip? Check out these unmissable places to visit in Bali or if you have more time away, try and fulfil this amazing ultimate Indonesia bucket list! There are so many things you should know about before visiting Bali too – don’t get caught out behaving inappropriately whilst on the island!
Have you ever been water rafting in Bali? What was it like? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments
Hi Jade, how many steps did you have to climb back up for Telaga Waja. I don’t care much about the going down, but definitely concerned about the amount of climbing up. This will be the tie breaker between Ayung and Telaga Waja for me. Thanks!
We didn’t climb any steps back up – the company drove everything down to the bottom for us 🙂